• Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena started seventh on the road. They ran reliably, averaging 100km/h, and were more cautious in the dunes of the final part of the stage, ending up second on the stage and maintaining the overall lead of the event with a margin of 3 minutes 46 seconds.
• Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz joined their team-mates on the stage podium, proving that they are truly up to speed despite several months out of the car. Even though they suffered from dust from the cars ahead of them on the road, after having started in 14th position, they were able to move up to 3rd position on the stage, passing 3 competitors on the road.
• The 50-hour penalty for Sainz, as a result of a misunderstanding with race control on yesterday’s shortened stage 2, was cancelled, meaning that the Spaniard is now back in a representative position – 6th overall, 26 minutes off the leader.
• Tonight at the marathon bivouac there is no service park, meaning the drivers and co-drivers will go through the mechanics’ check-list by themselves. As neither crew had any particular problems, despite the navigation continuing to be tricky, they will focus on the road-book preparation and get some deserved rest.
NUMBER OF THE DAY: 11 This is the combined number of World Rally Championship titles that the Peugeot Total #DreamTeam in Morocco of Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz have accumulated between them. Staggeringly, this also equates to 104 WRC event victories.
QUOTES / UNQUOTE
Bruno FAMIN Peugeot Sport Director Team Manager Peugeot Total “After what was quite literally a disorientating day yesterday, it was good to get back on track today with a -two-three finish for our 3008DKR. Carlos and Lucas were the fastest in section two of the stage, and were able to keep their cool. Now they are back among the competition and will fight to return to the top places. Sebastien and Daniel are smartly maintaining a sizeable lead. The cars have been perfectly reliable so the crews should not have much work to do tonight on the marathon bivouac.”
Sébastien LOEB, Team Peugeot Total driver2nd on the stage, 1st overall “No problems for us today and we just concentrated on getting to the finish of the stage with no further drama or risks. We managed to maintain the gap with Nasser Al- Attiyah and we still have a small advantage. Tomorrow, he will open the road so our job is to stay focused and concentrated on finding the right way, without overreaching ourselves.”
Carlos SAINZ, Team Peugeot Total driver 3rd on the stage, 6th overall “With every kilometre we feel more confident with the car; the only thing that was a little frustrating today was the dust from the cars ahead, as we started in the back. But apart from that it was OK. We will adjust some of the set-up on the car tonight. Now we are concentrating on moving up the order if we can.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Like today, tomorrow’s action is split into two sections, predominantly featuring sand dunes. The first section takes in 170 kilometres of stage, leaving directly from the bivouac. The second section takes in 263 kilometres, after a 21-kilometre road section. It’s an intensive day requiring maximum driving precision and concentration from the crews, as it's all too easy to make a mistake and get stuck.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Rallye du Maroc was first run in 1934, although it wasn’t revived in the form that we know it now until 2013. Originally it was a long-distance event similar to the Safari Rally, designed to prove durability: sometimes with 10 or fewer finishers. The rally spent three years as part of the World Rally Championship in 1973, 1975 and 1976 but the first Peugeot victory dates back to 1955, with a Peugeot 203 claiming the spoils.
